Thanksgiving in Amsterdam

Finally, the day everyone had been waiting for. The day I had been anxiously awaiting, the day that would put my cooking skills to the test. Thanksgiving in Amsterdam. I would be serving about 20 guests (including myself), a majority of them international students who had never seen a Thanksgiving meal in their lives.

With the help of my oh-so-reliable mother and Cooking Light magazines, I was able to cook 2 chickens, cranberry sauce, green beans, stuffing, sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmellows, and gravy.

Around 1 PM, Harry, Evelien, and I began cooking. We roasted a chicken in Evelien's mini oven while Harry and Evelien prepared the green beans, Igor peeled and diced potatoes, and I began sauteing shallots and mashing sweet potatoes. Harry has a Slingbox account, so we were able to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while preparing dinner.


Lots of veggies.


Tiny Dutch fridge put to the test.


Our preparation "table".


My assistants (Harry and Evelien) have turned against me!


Go conventional oven, go!


Lots of food & hungry Europeans.

Eet smakelijk!

Thanksgiving has to be one of my favorite holidays. Lots of food, and a time to gather with family. This year I was fortunate enough to share Thanksgiving with my new family: the amazing friends I have made here. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Amsterdammer

Recently, I've been too busy with homework or traveling to even remember I had a blog. I'm actually supposed to be working on two class assignments right now, but homework on a Friday night just doesn't exist.

But here's a few things I've learned after living in Amsterdam for over two months:

• Milk spoils ridiculously fast, mostly because it isn't pasteurized. I'm not a big fan of milk, but I must admit milk products are much fresher tasting here.
  
• The Dutch love to drink yoghurt. Flavored or plain, it usually comes in a milk carton with a screw cap. Again, better than our Yoplait crap we try to pass off as yogurt.
  
• As Thanksgiving draws closer, I've realized the Dutch don't eat turkey. No deli slices of turkey, no ground turkey, nothing. Looks like I'm eating chicken for Thanksgiving.
• The Dutch can be rude if you're (only somewhat) blocking their way in the bike path, they aren't very organized (especially the University of Amsterdam), don't always want to stop and give directions, and don't dance at clubs. However, at crowded concerts they are more than happy to let you squeeze by for a better spot.
• Blackface is accepted in the Netherlands, seeing as everyone piles up hundreds of stuffed or carved figurines of Zwarte Piet, Sinterklaas' helper. Zwarte Piet usually has a painted black face, red lips, a poofy black wig, and is stuffed into a silly outfit that looks like it's from Disney's The Prince and the Pauper.
• Christmas markets are probably the best thing ever to grace this earth, yet the Dutch only halfheartedly partake in the culture of warm gluhwein and kartoffelsuppe.